Crescent Fall
by Kanassa
Summary: A forgotten evil. Beacon in flames. Huntsmen and Huntresses imprisoned. Ruby is left with the most unlikely of allies as she is hunted by the people she once served, a shadow has cast itself over Remnant. The path ahead made up of mistrust and riddles. Ruby Rose once led a small team, then she led a larger alliance. Now, she must lead a revolution.
1. Chapter 1

The low hum of electrical waves moving through the wires installed in the metal ceiling panels, powering the hanging lights of the hallway, illuminating the old and withered metal that formed the hall's walls. When Warden Krugar had walked aboard this airship for the first time to take his position as Warden he always felt a bit unnerved by the interior of the ship, the smell of rotting faeces on the walls, the low mad rambling of the imprisoned, the sight of the deserted and old hallway. It all gave him the same surreal feeling as if the rooms were slowly draining him away, waiting to leave him on the floor as simply a husk.

It took the Warden a few years to push the feeling away to the back of his mind, he could never remove them completely, though the fact that they still lingered did make him constantly complement the one who designed the ship. Pushing through the hallway with a shake of his head, rounding the corner to approach the steel door that already automatically slid open upon his arrival accompanied by the robotic voice from the speakers. "Warden on Prison level. All inmates, please refrain from approaching, touching or yelling through your containment units"

The room was the largest part of the ship aside from the engine room, the walls an unattractive shade of green that still kept the room dark even when the lights were lending their golden gaze from above. Opposite of where he entered at the other end of the room was an elevator, it's steel arms open wide and ready for an embrace. Littering the two remaining sides of the room were large metallic structures that reached up to connect to the room's ceiling, each structure holding four separate room, the only entrance blocked by a shield.

The units separate room each held a criminal along with a simple bed roll, some of the prisoners already approaching their violet cell door upon the announcement of the Warden's arrival. Some of the inmates began to bash their fists against the shields, screaming violent threats that fell into silence for the Warden due to the soundproof walls, others saw fit to simply glare at the Warden from their cell. And a rare few didn't bother to get up to see the entrance of their jailor.

Krugar moved his gloved hand to the watch on his left hand, a simple button press bringing up a small holographic screen that displayed the words 'Comms' in the corner. "You heard the V.I, step away from the shielding unless you want to engage in some shock therapy" When only a few prisoners jumped back, the Warden didn't hesitate to switch the screen to 'Prison Level – Controls – Cell Units – Subdue'.

In only a few seconds a low hum could be heard as the cells shook slightly, looking up to one cell Krugar could see crackles of electricity course through the cells, the inmates letting out screams of silent anguish at the pain. Some prisoners pressed themselves against the shields with their eyes locked onto the watching guards, pleading for mercy.

Krugar watched with an expression void of any emotion, his hand hovering over the various options on his holo-display, the 'shut down' button right next to a slider that controlled the intensity coursing through the cell. With a grunt escaping his lips he pressed his finger against the air of the 'shut down' button, the prisoners instantly collapsing to the floor, relieved that the torture was over.

'Jenks' He turned his head towards one of the guards (Metal covering most of their bodies, from stainless metal boots, up to a helmet that covers the top half of their face) nearest to him, 'Jenks' straightened his leg and rms as his name was called, turning away from his one-sided conversation with the guard beside him. Kurgar removed his wrist watch from his wrist and threw the small device over to Jenks, who caught it with ease. "Take this. I'm going to the bridge, continue shocking the cells if any prisoners get rowdy"

The guard simply nodded to the Warden, attaching the device to his right wrist as Krugar moved away from them and towards the elevator. "So I said 'Dude, where's my kidney!?'" Jenks rekindled his one-sided conversation with the silent guard that gave no obvious reactions to anything he said. "You don't talk much…"

Silence ensued between them with Jenks awkwardly tapping his foot, his hands gripping the small assault rifle with the butt end of it facing upwards towards his shoulder. The firearm began to tip, the butt end of it moving away from it's original direction, now moving slowly to face the ground, not that Jenks seemed to notice it, only letting his eyes look over all the cells, searching for a trouble maker.

Now the rifle all together started to move further towards the ground, pulling against Jenk's arms, something he managed to notice this time as it felt like someone had replaced his weapon with a dung bell. "Whoa, what's going on with this thing!?" Out the corner of his eye, he saw the guard he had attempted to talk to look in his direction. "Don't believe me? You try lifting this thing now"

The guard approached him and placed one hand under the weapon while the other took a hold of his right hand, picking the rifle up with ease and no hint of a struggle, pulling the rifle up and waving it in his face, as if taunting him. With that the silent guard turned and moved away from the man, a few snickers coming from the others around the room. "Maybe that diet isn't working out for you, Jenks. You can't even hold a rifle now"

"I swear, one minuet it was a simple thing to hold, but then it suddenly weighed a ton!" He reached down with his left hand to rub his right wrist, an odd feeling flowing through him, though this odd feeling didn't alert him to the fact that there was nothing else on his wrist.

Krugar felt more comfortable as he moved up throughout the ship, after leaving the elevator he had been able to move towards the better parts of the craft, where the rooms were more clean and bright compared to the dank and depressing hallways of the prison level. It was…pleasant. Or as pleasant as can be on a prison ship.

Soon he found himself passing through a large steel door and into a wide open room, where the entrance led right up to a platform that overlooked the whole room with stairs on either side of the platform leading directly down. The bridge was a busy place to be almost constantly, the room was a flood of activity as various people tended to keeping the ship running, rows of monitors and computers filled the centre as the front of the room held large window that gave them view of the sea of clouds below the ship.

"Warden Krugar?" Came a feminine tone from beside him, slightly surprising the man as the person made no sound when approaching him. He let his gaze fall upon the woman, one who he was sure he had seen before. She was a small redhead that wore a more lighter version of the guard uniform. "Nattalie Dorg. The new Head Engineer"

Nattalie…Hm… "Why are you here?" Krugar looked down at the woman suspiciously, his arms crossed with a slight warning glare towards the woman.

"Because it's my job?" She replied with confusion evident in her tone, her eyes seemed to widen slightly the situation starting to make her nervous.

"Don't get cheek with me, Miss Dorg. We don't tolerate attitude like that here" With that, Krugar turned away towards the stairs with his hand continuing to indicate that Nattalie should follow. He led her towards a small monitor off to the side of the room. "Now, where did you get your qualifications?"

"Four years at the University of Technology, shouldn't you already know that?" The woman pointed out as Krugar began typing on the monitor, moving through a list of names of what she assumed were the ship's staff.

"You're relatively new, I leave the job of questioning you to the higher ups" Something seemed off about the way he spoke, the screen now stopped with her own name at the top of the list. He pressed her name bringing up a full file on the woman, her picture in the corner along with some small writing Natalie couldn't read.

"Now, I'm curious…" His tone was certainly more then a little annoyed, his hand reaching into his coat, the woman reaching behind her with a nervous laugh.

"Curious?" In one whirl of movement Krugar quickly spun around to fix her with a cold glare, his hand pulling out a small handgun from the depths of his coat. He was slightly surprised with the barrel of his gun came into contact with the tip of a group of knives, knives which had slid out of 'Miss Dorg's sleeve and into the empty space between her fingers.

"So, how are you here working, when you're supposed to be in hospital with a broken leg?" Glancing off to the side 'Nattile' could see the other members of the staff start to call for back up from the prison level, quickly she shot forward and dragged her knives across the man's arm, causing him to both pull the trigger and miss his intended target while letting out a small scream of pain.

She darted past him towards the monitor with obvious intents to find some manageable cover, Krugar was quick to recover from her previous attack and immediately started to fire rapidly after his moving target. Two shots hit, causing her to only stumble as her aura kept her safe from any fatal damage, the other one missed and sent a dust shot right into the monitor. This the monitor to shatter, the machine breaking in half as sparks started to flash around it.

"Though, I suppose the better question is, who the hell do you think you are!?" He rushes her, his shoulder rushing straight into her stomach before proceeding to slam her into the ground. With the advantage of position, Krugar waste no time before slamming his fist into her jaw. The Warden attempted a second punch, but the imposter brought her arms up to block it, responding in kind by delivering a blow to his neck, her other hand followed with her knives, slashing them across his chest.

This move managed to push Krugar off due to the powerful strike, but his aura still took most of the slash, allowing him to recover quickly. Though as soon as he was up he was met with the sight of his enemy running away towards the elevator, her hand to her ear.

"Change of plan, the Warden figured me out!" 'Natalie's harsh whisper came through the small ear piece that hid behind the metal helmet, off in the corner of the prison no one could hear the voice inside the silent guard's helmet. The guard in question simply nodded to themselves, reaching down to the side of their leg to tap the small button near the hip, upon pressing the button a small compartment in the leg's armour open up to reveal a small golden device. The guard took the device into it's hand, the device o bigger than three of it's fingers combined.

Another voice ejected itself into the conversation, a distorted voice that seemed to constantly be accompanied by static. "He saw through your disguise? No matter, this mission and still be salvaged. Krux, I need you to introduce Krugar to you 'special' talent. Faith, you have access to the prison level's systems, cause some chaos"

"Attention 'V.R Blackbria', intruders have infiltrated the vessel. Intruders have infiltrated the vessel. Please proceed to the bridge to aid in capture" The robotic wail from the ship's speakers echoed throughout the ship, the warning continually repeated along with a ear-damaging siren. Faith held her wrist out in from of her covered face, gloved fingers swiping across the holo-screen to find just how much access Warden Krugar had on the prison levels, managing to find a 'lockdown' option in her search. Activating the lockdown instantly bathed the room in a hellish red glow, various clicks coming from the nearby doors to indicate their new function.

Looking up from her screen, Faith saw the guards already rushing towards the elevator with weapons in hand, but upon reaching the elevator's steel arms, they were surprised to find that the elevator refused to open. "The elevator's locked, who the hell initiated a lockdown?" Jenks exclaimed to his fellow guards, reaching towards the wrist watch Krugar had handed to him, only to find that the device was absent from his wrist.

The woman standing far behind them continued to swipe her finger across the screen, accessing the commands for the 'Prison Cell Units' and swiping through the options, it took a bit longer than it should of to find the option she required, but she found it none the less. Without hesitation he pressed her finger against a slider and pulled the slider down.

This resulted in a shock for the prisoners (The good kind) as the shields that kept them confined inside their 'cells' sudden faded from existence, only leaving a glorious opening for each criminal that allowed them to glare more clearly at the group of guards that had all approached the elevator, providing the criminals with a rare opportunity of… payback.

Faith lowered her wrist as the various inmates started to spill out of their cages with psychotic looks of pleasure stretched over their faces, approaching the unknowing jailors that desperately attempted to pry open the elevator doors. The wrist watch now away Faith held up the golden device, a small mechanical box that lay in her hand. Without hesitation she tossed the box towards the guards as they began to turn, noticing the prisoner's sudden freedom and approach.

In mid-air the golden box began to change, glowing as it's 'walls' began to close in and thin, curves forming around it's edges, either end of it started to spread out and shape into a circle. By the time it reached the group of guards, who now struggled against the sea of prisoners, it had formed into a sharp edged golden ring that brushed past Jenks's armoured shoulder, managing to cut a scar into the metal.

Faith peeled off her gloves to revealed tanned hands with a silver band wrapped around her palm, stretching out her hand towards the still moving ring, the band began to glow, causing the ring to come to a slow stop in the air. Jenks turned to face it in time to see it suddenly go in the opposite direction it had gone before, which meant it shot right back towards him. He couldn't move fast enough, the ring went straight into the scar already left in his armour, cutting the metal deeply at a quick pace. Soon the ring's razor sharp edge made contact with the surface of his skin, cutting into his flesh.

Other guards turned their heads at the sudden scream that emitted from Jenks, surprised to see gold embedded in the side of his now bleeding shoulder. Most were too busy attempting to subdue the released prisoners to come to the man's aid, though one did attempt after beating a prisoner with the butt of his assault rifle, before rushing towards Jenks. Unfortunately it was then that the ring seemed to decide to pull away from Jenks's shoulder, cutting through the air and slamming into the non-armoured part sprinting guard's face. The guard collapsed to the ground with ease, a gaping wound left across where his mouth used to be as his body lost all motion.

The ring soon returned after traveling in a loop around the whole room, cutting through a few more guards before landing in Faith's outstretched hand, her grip closing on it as soon as she felt it, stopping its momentum just as the edges were an inch away from her skin. The guards were starting to get overrun by the wave of criminals, some even managing to grab an assault rifle out of a guard's grip, sending dust-tipped projectiles into the crowd of metal men. Faith used this time of confusion to rush into the heart of the confusion, hopping onto the head of a prisoner and leaping off in an attempt to leap over the crowd. This left her basically defenceless and fully visible, Jenks screaming to the guards to take advantage of this.

But when they attempted to raise their weapons, the ones closest to the target started to feel unbalanced all of the sudden, their feet seemingly losing their grip on the ground as they started to slowly float above the ground. It felt as if someone had suddenly turned off the gravity. Faith too seemed affected by this strange occurrence though she seemed to expect it as she quickly twirled around in the air, her outstretched out quick to take a hold of a rifle that danged helplessly. All of the sudden, gravity decided to turn back on and in an instant the affected guards fell back to the ground, feeling an invisible weight pressing them into the ground. Faith however landed on the ground with her new weapon in hand, the gravity situation seemingly affecting her now, though as soon as she landed al of the invisible weights seemed to have suddenly disappeared.

Swiping across the wrist watch holo-screen, Faith unlocked the elevator and limped inside it dragging her feet behind her. She was quick to reach up and force the helmet off of her, revealing that her skin had turned a sickly pale colour, sweat pouring down from under her short scarlet hair. Moving the elevator upwards, her breath decreased to a very slow rate, taking deep breaths as she leaned on the elevator for support. She had overworked herself.

Terra Krux felt a small numbness creep up her shoulder after Krugar managed to land a blow on it, causing her to twist around and drive her foot into his jaw, knocking him back slightly while drawing a small amount of blood. Before he could make another recover she grabbed a hold of his shoulder and pulled herself past him, driving her foot into the back of his knee forcing him into a kneeling position.

Seeing an opportunity he quickly pushed herself back in front of him, her palm now pressed against his face with her fingers digging into his cheeks. For A moment he was confused by her actions, but then immediately after that questioning thought the girl in front of him began to glow brightly. At the same time he felt flashes of pain racing through his body, as if someone was tugging at his insides for a second, he let out an anguished groan and attempted to grab and pull away her hand, but the more he tried the more the hand seemed stuck to him.

Abruptly the hand disconnected from his face and the girl in question quickly brought her knives up to slash across his face, breaking right through his shield of aura this time and cutting into his skin, leaving a nice large wound across his face when she backed off. "W-what did you…do?" He questioned as she attempted to rise to his feet, his head feeling very dizzy from the experience.

Krugar heard rushed heavy footsteps as he saw various guards burst into the room, weapons raised as they formed up to surround the elevator the two fighters currently stood in front of, Krugar with his back to it while Krux kneeled in front of him. "You're surrounded. Better to give up now"

Terra glared at the man and seemed to look pretty desperate, but as soon as the elevator behind him let out a short ding she let out a small smirk. She pounced up and took hold of his shoulders again, driving her knee into his already wounded face, this caused him to unbalance slightly, allowing her to make her way around him, making sure to keep extremely close to the Warden as the fact that he was in her way was the only reason the guards were not filling her with holes during her manuver.

The elevator opened just as Krux pushed herself from Krugar, using the push as momentum to speed up her jump into the elevator. The Warden sprinted away from the elevator in the hope that the guards would be able to shoot the elevator in time, but just as he was out of the guard's crosshairs, the elevator doors closed shut, the barrage of gunfire that followed only served to destroy the door, leaving the empty void of the elevator shaft to look into.

Krugar slammed his fist into the wall beside the elevator, growling to himself before turning around and storming over to where the staff had been cowering while the fight took place, glaring down at the few staff members that constantly monitored the ship's systems. "Status report!"

The staff member pulled herself to her feet, getting back to her station and looking through some data. "Someone's hacked into our system, all doors in the vessle are on lockdown and any communication outside the ship has been cut off"

"Can you at least tell me where that elevator is heading?"

After sorting through more of the available data, she looked back to the warden with a worried look. "Sir… They're going down to the lower decks…"

Krugar's face managed to emmit even more fury at the prospect, the realisation of the intruder's true objective. He marched right back to the elevator shaft. "Get Comms back online, I want every available guard down in the lower decks if they can make it. Ten years of hard work will not be undone! I'll use the emergency tunnles in the elevator shaft" With that the Warden did not hesitate to leap off into the shaft, the void of darkness soon swallowing his body.

"We weren't prepared for this" Krux growled at the empty space in front of her, pulling off the glasses that hung on the edge of her nose, crushing them in her hand. Faith didn't blink when she witnessed sections of Terra's skin coming apart, a lack of blood was visible as the skin seemed to rip itself apart until it was small flakes floating in the air. When all of the skin had removed itself from the woman's body, all that was left was a entirely different woman, a much older looking woman than what used to be Natallie Dorge. Long violet hair ran down her back, hey skin now much lighter. "If we had more time, we could of-"

"Time was a luxury we can not afford. This is the only chance we have of releasing him before he becomes impossible to reach" The robotic monotone spoke through both girl's ear pieces.

"That's still a very big possibility at the moment"

"Yes, which is why you will have to pick up the pace. If the 'VR Blackbria' reaches the Spire, you will lose any of my support" The voice was constaly calm through out the mission, a fact that irked Terra along with the way the voice constantly talked down to her. It reminded her of the fact that if the mission completly fails, their employer would be completely safe from any involvement with it; and they knew it. "Besides, the best plan is never the one that goes off without a hitch. The future is ripe with obstacles and variables constantly change. No, the best laid plan is one that learns to adapt"

Terra glanced over to her partner as the elevator continued it's descent, a flash of worry crossing over the woman's features. "How are you holding up? You're not looking so hot..." Faith's response was a simple shake of her head at the question before holding out her hands and forming two thumbs ups towards Terra, a small frown visible tucked into the sickly pale face. "I told you not to over-exert yourself when using your semblance"

Faith tilted her head sideways, before raising a single finger to point at Terra with a worried frown before pulling the finger back and sliding it across her throat, then proceeding to end the gesture by pushing her thumb and forefinger to be just a few inches apart.

"I had that fight handled. You on the other hand look like you're about to collapse, maybe you can rest in here while I-"

The voice interrupted again "Absolutely not, it's only a small amount of time until the Warden and his security find an alternate path down to you despite my hacking attempts. Though if you played your part right, we'll be gone before the good Warden arrives. Assuming that you managed to mark him"

"Don't worry..." Krux's body and skin began to shift again, though instead of ripping themselves off of her body, they instead began to expand slightly, her long hair starting to disappear along with all of Krux's other feminine traits. Her hips stiffened to a more straight form while her chest seemed to disappear. Soon Terra was no longer the one standing beside Faith, but a rather awkward looking Warden Krugar, who happily finished his sentence with a gruff tone. "...I branded him"

"Good, that should make moving around the lower decks a much smoother experience" The elevator came to a sudden stop, the bored tone of the V.I informing them that they had reached their floor as the doors slid opened, revealing a long hallway only lit by dim blue lights that lined the ceiling.

There was a loud short jingle from above them before the V.I 'welcomed' them. "As command by Warden Krugar, please refrain from tampering with any thing without the permission from your superior. Ignoring this command may result in many unfortunate and violent outcomes. Have a nice day!"

The pair pushed on through the hallway in silence, their only thought pertaining to their objective that lay just beyond the large door at the end of the hallway. Upon approaching the door, the V.I's voice popped again as they were suddenly bathed in a red glow, the churning of machinery echoing across the hallway and alerting them to the 'sudden' appearance of multiple turrets hanging from the ceiling; All aiming directly at them.

"Please stand still as I confirm your identity and access level" A small section in the centre of the door opened up, releasing a large beam of light that Terra swore for a moment had blinded her. The light trailed over 'The Warden's body at a slow pace, before suddenly disappearing as the disconnected section slammed shut. "Process complete. Access granted. Welcome, Warden Krugar"

The room behind the now open door was near empty for the most part aside from a small platform off to the side where a large set of computers sat behind protective glass, cables connected to the computers ran around the floor and up to the ceiling, all meeting at the one point of interest in the room. In the center of the room stood a large cuboid stood, large metal tubes reaching down into the corners, a small window placed on the front of the machine.

"Warden! What is going on out there!" A yell came from behind the set of computers, the face of a small and old man was visable moving around the edge of the platform. "I was making sure all the machinery was all working, when suddenly everything above we-"

"Release the prisoner" 'The Warden' commanded without even turning 'his' head to look at the man.

"What!? Are you out of your mind, we're keeping him in there for a-" He stopped talking when to his surprise a golden glint caught his eye, just a second before he felt something whisk right past him accompanied by the groaning of metal. Turning around he could see that a ring had just embedded itself into the wall, a menacing glint still coming off of it.

"Now." There was no argument as the old man pulled himself back over to the computers, quickly moving his hands across the screens with an uncertain expression.

The container shook slightly as the old man got to work, the tubes retracting from their position with a small hiss of steam coming off of them, a low hum moving throughout the room. There was another hiss let loose through the air before the front of the container slowly opened, revealing a tall and pale man inside, both his hands and feet were spread apart and clamped down by black cuffs, a dull grey prison uniform being the most they could see of him in the current lighting.

Terra fell silent as she gazed over the pale figure, a smirk coming to her face as she let out a chuckle. It's been so long... Immediately after she sharply turned towards the old man, yelling up to him. "Right, now disable the cu-" Pain pulsed through her when a bullet cut through her shoulder mid-sentence.

"That's as far as you get" The real Krugar growled at Terra while fixing her with a cold glare, his teeth grinding against one another as he kept his pistol aimed at her. "This is your last chance to surrender, or I'll be filling you with holes"

"You really think you can beat two of us? When your guards couldn't even take on one of us?" Terra retorted whilst attempting to hide the hint of nervousness in her tone, slightly glancing over to Faith who had her hands behind her back, her silver band glowing.

"I know that even if I can't take you down, I can hold you off long enough for my men to arrive!" The groan of metal entered his ears, causing his eyes to wonder over to the platform, causing his eyes to go wide as he jumped to the side, just narrowly avoiding the sharp edges of the ring, but this did result in him letting go of his weapon.

Terra instantly took this time to rush him with her knives drawn, leaping at him and taking advantage of his brief moment of weakness to slam the knive's tips right into the man's shoulder. The Warden let out a scream, pulling back his head for a moment before slamming it down to collide with the woman's arm, using the hand on the undamaged part of his body and driving it into the side of her head.

The blow caused her to let her grip on her knives loosen and clatter to the floor, with the loss of her only grip on the man she was thrown to the floor, bruises now littering her body. Before she could even think of anything other than the pain Krugar's foot came down on her stomach with a devastating force, sending a scream of pain throughout her body.

"Any final words?" He moved his foot up to hover just an inch above her neck, when he reciveed no response he simply pushed down with his leg, causing an immediate pained reaction. At the same time her disguise slowly started to pull itself off of her body, as if it had a mind of it's own.

"I suspect that if you want a reply, your best chance would be to take your foot off of the neck" A chuckle accompanied the rather smug sounding voice that made Krugar jump, but the Warden didn't have a chance to turn around to see what he suspected as a source. A shot had rang out across the room, a bullet had found it's way into Krugar's stomach. "Then again, I always thought it's better to not allow your enemy time to get a word in. But, hey, we can't all be good little psychopaths"

Kurgar stumbled back with his hands pressing against his new wound, his voice now seemingly deciding to leave him as he gaze upon what would surely be his killer. His pistol was in the other man's pale grip, the barrel just in front of the man's pale face, a face slightly covered by short raven hair.

"Oh come now, Warden. I know I haven't returned any of your calls for 10 years, but don't give me the silent treatment" Krugar felt anger overflowing inside of himself, anger that seemed to have numbed away the pain of the blood currently leaking from his stomach as he suddenly found his voice.

"Even after all these years, your voice still remains as insipid and annoying as ever!" It was all he could do now, he was weapon-less, wounded and outnumbered. Insults were all Krugar could muster while glaring into the silver eyes of his death.

"Ah yes, I've never been comfortable with change" The man smug grin seemed plastered to his face, unwavering even when he approached Krugar, before he hit the Waren upside the head with the butt of the pistol. "You on the other hand seemed to have embraced the idea. Age hasn't treated you kindly. You're much more ..." His knee slammed into the already wounded stomach. "...Fragile then I remember"

"Mercy..." Krugar coughed out through the pain, another fist crashing against the side of his head.

"The movement of my feet...the parting of my lips...the flash of pain from punching such thick bones..." His hand grabbed a hold of the collar of Krugar's shirt, pulling him up and over his shoulders, before slamming the Warden into the floor. "You don't realise just how good it feels to move again"

"Mercy...Please..."

"Mercy!?" He looked almost sickened by the idea, anger clear in his eyes as he got down on his knees with his head directly above Krugar's. A pale hand pulled on his cllar, bringing the Warden's head up slightly and closer to his face. "After all you put me through!?" His free hand formed a fist that he drove into Krugar's face, the nose breaking upon impact. "Do you know how it feels to stuck in the darkness, with the only thing you that you cling to, to tell you that you're still alive is the burning pain of your scars?" His fist drew back and instantly delivered another blow. This repeated a few more times. He pulled back his fist. He drove it right back into Krugar's face.

It ended when the man finally pulled away from Krugar and moved to his feet, Faith and Terra looked to him with surprised expressions as he approached them. "You...You..." Terra struggled to talk, but the man talked for her.

"Look like Torian after accidently took morphine?" Silence hung over them for a moment, before Terra lips broke out into a smile.

"No, you look more like a ferret died on a goth's head" She began to laugh at his attempted look of being offended, though cut it short when she looked to Faith, who still looked at the man with wide eyes. "Aran..."

"Apologies. I lost myself..." The raven haired man explained, though his eyes didn't saw any hint of regret. "I did go a tad to far" Faith looked down at her feet with a slightly confused expression, though a few seconds later she threw her arms around the man. "Yes, yes. I missed you as well, dear!"

Faith pulled away with a small smile, giving him a thumbs up before Terra spoke. "I hate to cut this short, but we need to leave before back up arrives"

Aran felt a wave of releife pass through him as the small ship Faith and Terra had lead him to shot away from the V.R Blckbria, his aching bones managing to find comfort in the chair attached to the inner walls, while it defiantly wasn't a chair made for comfort, it was much more preferable than his previous resting place.

"You have done a fine job of liberating Mr Tormen" The voice spoke through a small device Terra had pulled out from her pocket.

"And I'm going to assume that you're the one to thank for this being made possible" Aran crossed his legs with a grin, his silver eyes focusing on the hologram. "In which case I'm left wondering what exactly you want that requires my freedom"

"You catch on quickly, Mr Tormen. Yes, I do have great need of you and your abilities" The tone of the voice gave all three of them the impression that he had been waiting a long time to say all this. "While I would enjoy explaining my plan right now. I would prefer to first leave you with motivation to listen and to help me as I'm sure the first step of my plan is sure to spark"

"Motivation? If you're here to give me a job, I'm sorry to inform you that I'm not exactly in the mood at the moment"

"Even after going through all the trouble of gathering your old team, you won't even hear me out?" The response made Aran raise an eyebrow as he looked around the small space inside the ship.

"Whole team? Is Torian here?"

"Sadly, I failed to find Mr Newson. He seems to have simply disappeared since your capture" Aran's face had gone to lacking any noticeable emotion, it was strange for him, but Terra decided not to question him on it.

"Fine, talk"

"How would you feel about... The destruction of Beacon Academy?"


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby Rose was both nervous and bored in the waiting room of beacon, the two feelings she never wanted to feel while waiting for the headmaster of Beacon to call her into his office. Glynda Goodwitch's stoic impression and constant expressions that Ruby could never figure out if they were good or bad was not helping, the blonde in question typed away on her computer in a the cool and collected manner, still lacking any readable expressions.

Not once did Goodwitch's eyes even flicker towards the waiting girl or any type of action to reveal that the woman did in fact acknowledge Ruby was there, if it wasn't that Ruby knew that the woman was like this for most students, she would start wondering if Goodwitch even knew she was there.

To test this the small girl let out a small and low cough that was almost akin to someone sitting on an air bag, this caused Glynda to go still, her fingers pulled away from her computer and her head shifted to stare straight at Ruby. The silver eyed girl returned the look with an awkward smile, which didn't stop the feeling of the teacher's stare boring into her. "Uh… How long will Mr Ozpin be?"

There was silence for what Ruby counted as ten seconds surviving Glynda's stare If looks could kill… Until the intimidating woman finally replied in strict tone. "I do not know, Miss Rose. The headmaster's schedule is a random and tiresome one. You could possibly be waiting for a long time. You should learn to be more patient"

The room fell into a pit of silence once again as the wait dragged on in what Ruby felt was hours, her mind occasionally latching on to a tiny detail of the room and starting a rant in her head just to keep her entertained. Why does Goodwitch have a bird on her desk anyway? All it does is poke its head in her glass and take her water… Do all birds do that? I thought they'd be more exciting, then again this bird does look more dead than other b- OH, it's made of wood, it's...not…a…real…bird…

"Miss Rose" Goodwitch's voice broke through her mental ramblings and brought Ruby to attention, though this had the unwelcomed effect of surprising the small girl and causing her to blurt out her thoughts.

"THE BIRD IS A LIE!" The girl screamed out causing a brief look of surprise from Goodwitch, whose expression soon turned sour as she made a simple reply, Ruby now awkwardly laughing. Scratch if, those looks are burning my skin!

"Quite…" The elevator behind Glynda let out a short ping as its metal doors slid open, prompting the blond woman to point towards the now open elevator. "The Headmaster shall see you now, don't keep him waiting" Ruby did not need to be told twice and quickly hoped off her chair before rushing through into the elevator.

The ride up to Ozpin's office was a very short and pleasant one, though Ruby was slightly annoyed by the elevator music as it was one she had heard way too much lately. Everything is not awesome when you're called to the headmaster's office… Though being on a team is awesome! And cookies! Why does no one ever sina bout cookies? Her thoughts then lingered toward why she was actually brought up to Ozpin's office, she knew she hadn't broke any obvious rules, something that Weiss had made sure of every morning. She had been in the middle of class when Glynda appeared out of the blue to take her to the waiting room.

Ruby honestly hoped she hadn't done anything wrong, not only would it mean she might of done something that could possibly badly affect her team, it also meant disappointing Ozpin. While by now she felt her position at Beacon was well deserved, she never forgot that the silver haired head master was largely responsible for her getting this far. From letting her join after her fight against Torchwick, from helping her with her doubts and at times bending the rules to help her and her team.

The elevator came to a sudden stop that almost unsettled Ruby's recently filled stomach, the metal doors parting to let her gaze into the office of her headmaster. The ceiling and floors were like blankets of glass thrown over the various cogs and gears that functioned in the room, a large clock hanging on the wall behind Ozpin's small desk, making Ruby think for a second of if the room used to be the inside of a clock tower or something.

"Ozpin, times are tough and our situation calls for action" In front of Ozpin's desk stood a tall man with straight and tidy brown hair, dressed from top to bottom in a light blue suit that made him stick out like a sore thumb in the rather green room. His dry peach skin barely visible between the bright blue cloths of his rich-looking clothing.

Ozpin sat in front of the man with a mug of coffee in his hand like always, his eyes expressing annoyance towards the seemingly aggravated man in front of him. "And actions are being taken, Torvix. Just because you're not informed of ever decision we make…"

The man crossed his arms and stared down Ozpin as he slowly shuffled his head, as if the man was trying to non-verbally calm himself. "I should be, Ozpin. I'm the one out there looking like a fool when I come to defend you, the one who has to convince the other Council members not to fire you"

Ruby silently shuffled to the side and crouched down, desperate to not be seen by the two adults as she was sure this was a private conversation. "You just have to trust me, trust that I'm doing my job" Ozpin raised the mug to his lip to take a small sip.

"Trust you? How can I trust you? How can they? Aside from the other issues your Hunters have caused, you refuse to tell us what you're even doing" Torvix raised his hand to make a grand gesture waving his hand off to the side, as if he was indicating to an audience.

"They can look at the facts. This school still has an admirable teaching staff. This school still produces highly skilled and determined huntsman. This school is still open. And thanks to schools like this, Grim activity has died down From that, they can trust that I'm doing my job. They can trust that I am helping" Ozpin proceeded to push himself to his feet with his hands on his desk, now eye level with Torvix he narrowed his eyes. "Now, we will cut this short because I will not take empty threats from bumbling politicians in front of my students"

Ruby could swear that Torvix's skin began to develop a green tint to it as both adults turned to look towards her, realising she was spotted the girl gave a nervous wave, accompanied by a silent gulp. Torvix reached into his pocket with his gloved hands, procuring several small objects that Ruby easily identified as candy, which the adult quickly popped in his mouth.

As quickly as it came the green tint completely disappeared from his skin, his tense muscles relaxing and his aggravated expression fading into a wide smile as he gazed at her. "Ah, Ruby Rose. A pleasure!" He strode towards her and extended his arm out to present his gloved hand to her. "Torvix, Councillor Torvix"

The young Huntress nervously took a hold of his hand which took hers in a strong grip, feeling a bit unnerved with how quickly and easily the man had switched from angry to ecstatic. "You already know my name, so...Uh… Nice to meet you! I didn't know the school had a guidance councillor…"

Torvix let out a small laugh as he released Ruby from his iron grip "I'm not any type of psychiatrist, Miss Rose. I'm a politician"

Ruby only blinked in confusion up at him, about to inform the man that she really had no knowledge on politics, but Ozpin already beat her to the punch. "We learn more about politics later in the term for her year and I doubt Signal has delved much into the subject. Especially politics of a very recent development" His voice seemed to hold a silent message to end the conversation there.

"How did you know my name?" Ruby asked curiously

"A prodigy that skipped two years of learning is hard to keep hidden, especially after your team helped stop that Grimm attack in Vale" Torvix placed his arms behind his back as Ruby smiled at the sudden praise, just missing the slight twinge of annoyance evident on his face. "And being responsible for putting away a criminal like Torchwick doesn't exactly make you unknown"

"I'm sure Miss Rose would love to tell you all about it, but this meeting is cutting into her class time, which I wouldn't like to waste" Ozpin raised his voice slightly, a polite smile on his lips. "And I'm sure you have better things to busy yourself with, Torvix"

The man stood straight with anger barley contained on his face, letting Ruby think that if she wasn't there, this conversation would be a little less… stable. "Just remember, Ozpin" He approached the now open elevator, his hands smartly behind his back. "No one, not even you, is above the law"

With that the man simply entered the elevator and disappeared behind the doors, allowing Ozpin himself to let out a sigh of relief. "You have my thanks, Miss Rose. If you weren't here, I'm sure he would have exploded"

"Is that all you wanted, Sir?" She didn't want to risk insulting him, but at the same time she could just hear a Weiss rant coming to her on how taking a student from class to simply get an annoying man to leave is highly irresponsible.

"No, no. Far from it" Ozpin's mood suddenly shifted to a noticeably more serious tone. "Before we begin, I must specify that what I want to tell you is of grave importance and that what I say must NEVER leave this room" He pushed himself up from the table, moving around it towards the elevator, pressing the palm of his hand against a red button. The elevator now displayed a red cross over its doors.

"N-never?" Ruby stuttered out, Ozpin responding with a simple nod of his head. That must mean it's important, but if it's that important, why is he telling me!? She suddenly felt like a building of responsibility and pressure had just be slammed onto her shoulders. "Why tell me then? I mean, unless it has something to do with my family or something." She let out a short gasp when something came to mind "Did Yang do something!? Is my dad okay!? Or did I do something wrong!? Or-"

Ozpin raised a gloved hand, pushing Ruby to fall into silence as he reproached his desk. "Yang is doing well. Your father is perfectly healthy and if you have done anything wrong, only you know about it. So, have you done something wrong?" Ruby only replied with an embarrassed shake o her head, scarlet staining her cheeks at her outburst of questions. "Though this has everything to do with you. You have certainly proved to be a capable huntress since starting your education here, admittedly jumping you up two years ahead of your education was…a rushed decision, but not one that I regret"

The young Huntress gulped at the sudden speech, the mention of her 2 year bump up wasn't exactly something she was comfortable talking about, being a reminder that she got a kind of free pass into beacon. Something which others had to earn. While she didn't doubt herself, she did feel bad about it. Ozpin continued "But after recent events havecome to my attention, I've decided that you need more... Specific training"

"Oh…" Her voice came off as dejected at the implication. "..Am I not doing good enough, Sir?"

Ozpin walked towards the nervous girl, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but fixing her with a serious stare. "No, you're exceling, Miss Rose. You're living up to your reputation as a prodigy. But I'm taking personal responsibility to accelerate your training, training under me"

"Why"

"Because, Miss Rose. You are in grave danger"

* * *

A low breath trailed its way through the hollow and dim marble floor of the empty hall, a breath loud enough to be akin to the roar of a mighty beast, slightly shaking the rows of pillars that ascended upwards to be swallowed by a sky of darkness. The only part of the room that was illuminated was a large round table of steel, a table that was only illuminated due to the four items that lay atop it, ominous green light surrounding their forms and spreading around the table like a fire.

Footsteps slowly pushed through the darkness with echoes surrounding each individual step, accompanied by a haunting and rather tired voice. "After generations of hardship spent creeping in the outskirts of the light, the eternal torment of your spilled blood staining a world populated by the insects that once feared you" The darkness seemed to slowly diminish around the faded form of what seemed to be black boots, like a pack of dogs backing away from an intimidating prey.

"The people of Remnant have forgotten about you, leaving not even myths to carry on your tale. History has abandoned you" The darkness seemed to pool over the dim light and flood around the Fading form's feet, the low breath now growing to a threatening growl at the individual, the words seemingly stinging. "But it's all falling into place…just like you promised centuries before"

A gloved hand reached out to press the barely visible button near the edge of the table, prompting the centre of the table to open up to reveal a small holo-projector. "That day is close at hand, the pawns unaware of how vital their roles are" The projector flickered to life to reveal a small image of a person standing behind the illuminating objects, the image being of a young and pale looking girl, short raven hair covering he head as she smiled at the camera energetically.

The darkness brushed against the top of the form, whispering inaudible words into its ears. "Yes… Tormen will play his part well. Dashade picked him for a reason, he's quite… subservient, if you know what buttons to push. And as soon as the four are gathered, the huntsman will watch as the ones who once called them protectors call for their heads" The form was filled with pure excitement at the prospect, quite expected of a cultist. "And your hands will be there to take them"


	3. Chapter 3

Weiss merely sighed when she witnessed her leader crash face first into the training hall wall, leaving a small dent in the steel walls. This had been the third time since starting the session that Ruby had caused an accident, making it apparent to the rest of team RWBY that she was more distracted today, though Weiss could reason that this was a result of pushing the small girl too hard.

With Vital Festival only a month away from arriving and the tournament along with it, Weiss saw to it that their team spent most of their free time training, their last encounter with danger at the Breach had shown them how much they needed to improve.

Though she never vocalised this thought, the breach had become a sore memory for the team as it became a sign of their failure. Despite their best effort the Grim had gotten into Vale and Vale suffered dearly for it, Ozpin never told any of the Huntsman about the reports on the incident, but Weiss had managed to find the Civilian Casualty Count. It was…too high.

"Ruby, you dolt. Get off the floor!" But just because Weiss might of pushed too hard did not mean she would loosen up on the training, it was the 'Schnee improvement Method'. _Push them hard, push them to their very limit. THEN PUSH THEM HARDER!_ "We need to perfect this technique before the tournament"

"Sorry…" Ruby's apology was muffled by the wall

Weiss sighed and went off towards Ruby, pulling the girl from the wall and steadying her as her leader stumbled slightly, disorientated from the collision. "Is there something bothering you? You've messed this up five times today, much more than usual"

"No! Nothing's bothering me!" Ruby nearly screamed instantly, darting away from Weiss's touch to unsteadily stand on her own, a fake smile plastered over her face. "I mean…Uh… Just the nerves, you know? We're only a month away from a tournament!"

The Heiress gave a sceptical look, it was a legitimate excuse for the behaviour, but Weiss had learned by now that Ruby was a terrible liar. _Why would she lie to me? I'm her partner!_ "You're a bad liar"

"Whaaaat?" Drawing out her words only made Weiss more suspicious as Ruby lightly punched the girl's arm. "That's silly! You're being silly. I'd never lie to you!"

"I know when you're lying" As Weiss stated this fact, Ruby's hand went up to cover her left eye "You're left eye twitches" Before going down to- "You scratch your nose and-" The Heiress simply pointed down at Ruby's legs, where Ruby found her right leg swinging backwards and forwards. "That."

Ruby fell backwards onto the floor with a defeated sigh. "Am I that obvious?"

"Very." Weiss leaned over to look down at Ruby with a worried look, holding out her hand "Now, what's wrong?"

The meeting with Ozpin was still fresh in the young Huntress's mind, his vague words and really non-explanatory 'explanations' only served to fuel her with more questions. _"D-danger!?" Her eyes widened in an instant, thoughts of Torchwick and the White Fang flooding her mind. "You can't be serious!"_

 _"Unfortunately, I am very serious"_

 _The first coherent thought to pass through her head was of why she would be in danger, the only answer she could find was her and her teams meddling in both White Fang and Criminal activities had them targeted, a thought that only made her feel guilty. Had she only placed her team in more danger by leading them to disrupt Torchwick's operations? "It's about Torchwick, isn't it?"_

 _"No, it is not"_

 _"But… Why else would my team be in more danger then the rest of the school? Who's after us?"_

 _"The origin of the threats, I am not aware of" The silver haired headmaster reached out to grip her shoulder confidently, sending her a frown. "And remember, Miss Rose. I only said you were in danger" His eyes locked with hers, his mouth open slight as if he just stopped himself from saying something. "Why… Is something I wouldn't like to discuss at the moment" The headmaster's eyes snapped to the side, looking around the room suspiciously. "Not until I've got something concrete"_

 _Another question to haunt her was what Ozpin seemed so suspicious about? Or did he just not trust her with the full scope of the situation?_

"It's just… something Ozpin said to me today"

Weiss raised a brow "Was this when he called you to his office? You didn't do anything illegal did you?"

Ruby raised her hands up in defence, a nervous smile on her lips as she protested ''No, no! Nothing like that at all!"

 _"This... training…" She stumbled over her words, the flood of questions and build-up of the unknown was starting to get to her. "How's it going to work? I mean, with the Vital Tournament and school work, I'm not going to exactly have a lot of time to do more training. And with Weiss's training regime doesn't give me a lot of time to sleep…"_

 _"I'm afraid that this training shall have to take up much more of your time. It'll have to take place during the weekends, I still have to have you ready for classes as well" The answer almost made Ruby want to let out a childish groan, the weekends being the most free time she gets these days. She wanted to argue, but she just couldn't. Ozpin was trying to help her. "I realise this will be hard, but in the face of life-threatening situations, we are required to make sacrifices. For our own sake and for those around us"_

 _"How long will the training sessions be?"_

 _"Most likely around an hour or two… Depending on a lot of factors" His gloved fingers intertwined to form a small green chair for his chin to rest on._

 _"This won't affect the vital festival, will it!?" Ruby nearly leapt from her seat with worried eye as she screamed out the question. She would never forgive herself if her team suffered because she got herself in trouble with… Someone, it wouldn't be right for them to be taken out of the tournament._

 _"No, it's actually more beneficial for you to be at the vital tournament. Not many students will still be in Beacon while it's going on, and inside the tournament grounds you will be surrounded by other Huntsman. I doubt someone will attempt to attack you there… As long as you don't go down any dark hallways"_

 _The small huntress lets out a sigh of relief "Can I at least tell my team about these training sessions?"_

 _"No, for now this is only between you, me and Goodwitch"_

 _"What do I tell them then?"_

"Ozpin just told me that because I skipped two years, there are some stuff I missed that he wants me to learn" She pushed arm arms behind her head, kept her left eye completely shut and pushed all of her weight onto her leg. "You know…Maths…And History and stuff…."

"Oobleck already teaches History"

"But not the basics!"

Before Weiss could shoot back a reply, the door to the training hall slid open to reveal both Yang and Blake walking through. Yang had her arms thrown back behind her neck gazing at the ceiling, walking besides Blake who held her scroll in hand, the familiar logo for the 'National Newspaper' (They were rather uncreative for journalists…) was just visible on the screen.

"Sis. Ice Queen. What's up?" Yang greeted the two, Blake only giving a slight nod of acknowledgement as a greeting. "Blake's reading about the next celebrity scandal"

The fanus's eyebrows furrowed at the comment, turning to give Yang a slight glare. "I am not wasting my time on celebrity gossip, I'm… researching the social opinion of various and important discussions. It's important"

Weiss leaned forward to peak at the contents of the screen. "The important discussions of whether Chef Greig has a fish fetish?" The Heiress questioned, her eyes wide and perplexed at the article.

"I eat Fish, but if this is true, I could be eating… tainted fish" Blake shivered

"You're worried that someone is fu- 'tainting' the fish before you eat it?" Yang blinked as she realised what she just said. "I thought I was supposed to be the crazy one…" _Then again, Blake does get very… catty when she's around fish._

"Is there any news for the non-fish eaters?" Ruby questioned, Yang and Weiss swapping strange looks while Blake continued scrolling down the news page.

"Oh… Unrest over at Atlas. A prison break" Blake's eyes scanned the page with intrigue as Ruby felt both curious and scared. _A prison Break…and soon after Ozpin tells me I'm in danger. It's just a coincidence, right?_ Blake cleared her throat, reading the page out loud.

 **Blackbria Down – Black Death at large!**

 _It was an eventful day for the late Prison Ship the 'S.R Blackbria', as a regular prisoner transfer was met with tragedy. The ship was attacked by unknown criminals, who initiated a jailbreak throughout the ship. Witnesses report that the prison guards fought valiantly to quell the riot, but unfortunately over 60% of the staff have been reported as casualties. Even the Warden himself, Val Krugar, could not salvage the situation as soon after the riot had begun, the Blackbria crashed into a fortunately unpopulated area of Atlas._

 _Most of the prisoners didn't get far before the Atlas military managed to track down and imprison the convicts inside temporal holding facilities. But among the reportedly freed convicts that are still running free, Atlas would like citizens to know that Aran Tormen has also been released during this riot after his fifty year sentence in 'deep sleep'. Tormen is more wildly known as the 'Black Death' after the 'Hollow Point Massacre'…_

The article went on to give out a description for the man, telling anyone that spots him to immediately call the authorities. "Tormen?" Blake's eyebrows furrowed as she looked away from her Scroll for a moment.

Yang became noticeably silent at the mention of the name, her usual smile fading from her face while Weiss was trying to get a closer look at the article, curious. "You've heard of the name, Blake?"

The cat fanus simply nodded. "I think I remember him being mentioned back in the White Fang's early days, when they had started to become more... Violent" She took a moment to take a deep breath, mentioning the White Fang still stinging scar after the 'Breech' incident. "He was an ex-Huntsman known for his brutal treatment of any Fanus affiliated with the White Fang, apparently he went rouge after his psychotic tendencies and unhealthy mood swings were brought up"

Ruby moved her gaze towards Yang, whose face still missed a smile as the blonde's eyes glared at the floor. "Yang?"

"Let's go, Ruby" Yang turned on her heel and looked ready to storm off, her voice was dead serious and almost venomous.

"Huh? Why?"

"I need help with homework or something…" Yang grabbed a hold of Ruby's hand, a near pleading look in her blue eyes

"But you never do homework!" Weiss pointed out almost immediately, her eyes still glued to the article before snorting slightly "Besides, if you need help, I'm the one you should go to"

Ruby stared at Yang's expression before deciding what to do, simply nodding and telling Weiss that "I'll go. If Yang needs so much help, I'll go"

"Fine, but don't complain when you're absolutely stumped and wishing for the tutoring talents of Weiss Schnee!"

"Thanks for the confidence, Weiss"

"Just stating a fact, Ruby" The heiress crossed her arms, peeling her eyes from the scroll. "Should I go back to my 'Trash is trash' speech?"

"Not now, Wei-" The small Huntress stopped talking when she felt herself being dragged away from her other two team members, Yang's firm grip on the girl's wrist making it an easy feat. When the two were further down the hall and Ruby was sure there was no one in ear shot, she started to question. "So, what did you really want me for?"

"I just didn't want you reading any more of that article or about Tormen" The older sister's tone was completely serious, something Ruby had noted as very rare for the blond brawler.

"Why?"

"Well, for one, Uncle Qrow would kill me if I didn't stop you"

Now that did confuse Ruby, Qrow wasn't exactly the most restrictive Uncles you could have, though that was mostly because he was always drunk. "Why would Uncle Qrow not want me to read an article about some random criminal?"

"Qrow used to say 'Its good to have motivation, but a personal stake is a mission nightmare', well, I think that's what he said. He fell unconscious afterwards…" Yang stopped walking and leaned against the wall, biting her lip a little, she wasn't sure if she should be telling Ruby this. "This Tormen guy? Let's just say he has a history with our family"

At this point, Ruby really wasn't surprised. "Blake said he was an ex-hunter, did he go to Beacon with our parents"

Yang nodded, starting to become more confident with telling Ruby. "I think so, but that's not what I mean when I say we have history. It was Qrow's team that arrested him in the first place"

"Arrested…" Ruby repeated, freezing in place as her mind thought back to Ozpin's words. _You're in danger, Miss Rose._ Someone had something against her, enough to want to kill her. And she was informed of this after someone who lost ten years of his life because of her family. _Tormen has to be the one… But Ozpin said the person was aiming for me specifically and Tormen's targets would be all of my family, then again Ozpin doesn't seem so sure of it himself…_

"Ruby?" Yang noticed the now seemingly distressed Ruby, who now stared into space. "Ruby, are you okay?" She knelt down to put her head on level with Ruby's, reaching out to grasp the young girl's shoulder. "Ruby!"

 _I'm over thinking this, if the link was that obvious, wouldn't Ozpin have thought of it? Maybe I should bring it up with Ozpin next time I s-_ The raven haired girl blinked, her thoughts fading away. "Huh?"

"You were unresponsive there for a while, like when Uncle Qrow gets dad to drink alcohol"

"Sorry, this is just a lot to take in…"

Yang paused for a moment, looking Ruby directly in the eye as she softened her grip. "Are you scared?"

"Wha- No! I'm perfectly fine, I'm at Beacon, aren't I?"

"Yes, Beacon is safe…" Another pause, this time with a nervous glance. "I need you to promise me you won't, under any circumstances, go looking for him"

"Yang… Why would I go looking for someone who might want to kill me?"

"I know what you're like. Just promise me"

"Okay, okay. I promise that I won't go looking for the psychopath"

Yang pulled her little sister into a bone-crushing hug, causing Ruby to let out a small yelp. "Good, now what is this I'm hearing about you getting called to Ozpin's office?"


End file.
